Tuesday, October 02, 2007

Frustration Fatigue

I confess, I think I have frustration fatigue. I am frustrated with my country in general and with this administration primarily. The war in Iraq rolls on as does the one in Afghanistan. Now the drums are beating about Iran.

In my own life if I were dealing with two missions that were failures, I would not start a third one. That would be so irresponsible and ignorant.

Will the US strike or invade Iran? I don’t know and that is one more reason for the frustration. We know it would be unthinkable for our troops and yet we know it hasn’t been ruled out. That should make all of us frustrated.

I’m just tired of knowing what should be right and yet also knowing that, that has no influence on what will be.

it is hard to believe that 100% of this country isnt up in arms about what Bush might do with Iran....

it is says volumes about our society and nation......and volumes about how 25% or so of this nation is really dictating what policy should be.

it is amazing that our Congress, the one we elected to change things -- has fallen right into the trap. it just proves even further that we have a completely broken system --- perhaps one that cannot be fixed. we have people spending time arguing about a AD! but not trying to fix the severe fissures in this society. We have people who go around to talk shows and radio shows and simply dump talking points instead of ideas.

and worse we have a media that still (unfortunately) has enormous influence over the heartbeat of this nation that refuses to challenge or even put up a small fight.

in short we have a country that none of us would recognize, and that is very sad.

as awful as bushco is (and it is as awful as it gets) they have been brilliant in capitalizing the one thing that makes Americans tremble -- their own fear.

we dont have to elect these clowns, but we do -- and that tells me that no matter who ends up in charge in 2008, i am afraid we are headed down a path that is devoid of u-turns

I'm beginning to think the parlimentary form of democracy is a better design. If we had a govt like Canada or GB, Bushco and all his cronies would have been sent home long ago. If we had a govt like Canada or GB, we wouldn't be praying that the Dems get it right, we'd have many parties and none of them would be strong enough to unilaterally do what Bushco has done.

We're feeling the same way PoP. I've got frustration fatigue so bad I've stopped reading, watching, or listening to the news. My throat is hoarse from screaming back. Now I'm reading a book called The World Without Us. It's a look at how long it might take the earth to recover if humans were to suddenly disappear. The thought of us being gone is rather uplifting.

I think part of it PoP is that human beings, in general, are extraordinarily resilient. We can take a lot of shit before we finally crack.

Those in power are well aware of this fact, and only push us so far, always cognizant of the "tipping point."

As an example, I was watching Ken Burns' documentary on WWII last night, and the Army knew if soldiers were exposed to combat for more than 200 something plus days (They had an exact figure but I can't remember)they'd go insane.

However, statistically, by the time they were in combat for that long they had already been killed or wounded.

Probability took care of a potential problem, and they knew it.

If you keep people under constant strain, but not enough to break them, you can control them.

As desperate as the Neocons might be to take that one last stab at proving their policies by attacking Iran, I doubt it will happen. The political clout of the entire Republican Party would evaporate the minute the first bomb dropped. They would face the prospect of not being out of power for years, but being out of power for decades, and as dumb as he is, even George W. doesn't want to be responsible for that.

But, I could be wrong.

As for the rest of it, we're just waiting for the clock to run out on this administration. Seems to be little else we can do. Expect big changes in 2009.

And have you seen the photos from Burma/Myanmar? Now, there's a palce taht could use some help in establishing "freedom"; only of course we know taht schtick is nothing but Bush/Cheney/neocon snake oil. And no oil to be found there, either.Bunch of power-drunk men out picking fights, our "leaders."

I watched that show last night, too. I think they said it was 28 months before they crack. Then they said the saddest thing...but many of the men died before they got to that point.

My uncle was in Patton's army and died in the Battle of the Bulge. I have an originally typed journalist story about what happened during the battle where he died. I'm not sure how it came to the family. I even have the last letter he wrote to my mom before he was killed. It was written three days before.

Watching that show just brought it all into perspective, to see the actual footage and what they were going through.

You have company. Hubby and I were just talking about this yesterday. It is depressing and feels helpless to be at the mercy of such a spoiled rich kid with no tools for doing his job...and obviously no conscience.

You have to wonder just what is wrong with those who don't see what's going on, or worse, who see and support this malignant and criminally amoral bunch leading us merrily along the path of possible annihilation with no qualms about it whatsoever. Gawd!

I have to cut this short. One of my sons is coming in and he is going to volunteer to go to Iraq sooner than scheduled. I told him to expect Iran this fall and be careful because as Bush prosecutes his Forever war who knows what is next. He is EOD just back from Afghanistan and is showung the stress like the whole miliitary.

I totally share your frustration. I don't even have that much hope that things will change after the next election. I don't even believe in our election results anymore. I feel as if we can't get rid of these people - ever.